Useful tool definitions

[gordonmt]

Thought you guys might get a kick out these.

Subject: Useful Tool Definitions
DRILL PRESS: A tall upright machine useful for suddenly snatching flat
metal bar stock out of your hands so that it smacks you in the chest and
flings your soda pop across the room, splattering it against that
freshly-stained heirloom piece you were drying.

WIRE WHEEL: Cleans paint off bolts and then throws them somewhere under
the work bench with the speed of light. Also removes fingerprints and
hard-earned guitar calluses from fingers in about the time it takes you
to say "****".

ELECTRIC HAND DRILL: Normally used for spinning pop rivets in their
holes until you die of old age.

SKIL SAW: A portable cutting tool used to make studs too short.

PLIERS: Used to round off bolt heads. Sometimes used in the creation of
blood-blisters.

BELT SANDER: An electric sanding tool commonly used to convert minor
touch-up jobs into major refinishing jobs.

HACKSAW: One of a family of cutting tools built on the Ouija board
principle. It transforms human energy into a crooked, unpredictable
motion, and the more you attempt to influence its course, the more
dismal your future becomes.

VISE-GRIPS: Generally used after pliers to completely round off bolt
heads. If nothing else is available, they can also be used to transfer
intense welding heat to the palm of your hand.

WELDING GLOVES: Heavy duty leather gloves used to prolong the conduction
of intense welding heat to the palm of your hand.

OXYACETYLENE TORCH: Used almost entirely for lighting various flammable
objects in your shop on fire. Also handy for igniting the grease inside
the wheel hub you want the bearing race out of.

WHITWORTH SOCKETS: Once used for working on older British cars and
motorcycles, they are now used mainly for impersonating that 9/16"
socket you've been searching for the last 45 minutes.

TABLE SAW: A large stationary power tool commonly used to launch wood
projectiles for testing wall integrity.

HYDRAULIC FLOOR JACK: Used for lowering an automobile to the ground
after you have installed your new brake shoes, trapping the jack handle
firmly under the bumper.

EIGHT-FOOT LONG YELLOW PINE 2X4: Used for levering an automobile upward
off of a trapped hydraulic jack handle.

TWEEZERS: A tool for removing wood splinters and wire wheel wires.

E-Z OUT BOLT AND STUD EXTRACTOR: A tool, ten times harder than any known
drill bit, that snaps neatly off in bolt holes thereby ending any
possible future use.

RADIAL ARM SAW: A large stationary power saw primarily used by most
shops to scare neophytes into choosing another line of work.

TWO-TON ENGINE HOIST: A tool for testing the maximum tensile strength of
everything you forgot to disconnect.

CRAFTSMAN 1/2 x 24-INCH SCREWDRIVER: A very large pry bar that
inexplicably has an accurately machined screwdriver tip on the end
opposite the handle.

AVIATION METAL SNIPS: See hacksaw.

TROUBLE LIGHT: The home mechanic's own tanning booth. Sometimes called a
drop light, it is a good source of vitamin D, "the sunshine vitamin,"
which is not otherwise found under cars at night. Health benefits aside,
its main purpose is to consume 40-watt light bulbs at about the same
rate that 105mm howitzer shells might be used during, say, the first few
hours of the Battle of the Bulge. More often dark than light, its name
is somewhat misleading.

PHILLIPS SCREWDRIVER: Normally used to stab the vacuum seals under lids
and for opening old-style paper-and-tin oil cans and splashing oil on
your shirt; but can also be used, as the name implies, to strip out
Phillips screw heads.

STRAIGHT SCREWDRIVER: A tool for opening paint cans. Sometimes used to
convert common slotted screws into non-removable screws.

AIR COMPRESSOR: A machine that takes energy produced in a coal- burning
power plant 200 miles away and transforms it into compressed air that
travels by hose to a Chicago Pneumatic impact wrench that grips rusty
bolts which were last over tightened 30 years ago by someone at Ford,
and instantly rounds off their heads. Also used to quickly snap off lug
nuts.

PRY BAR: A tool used to crumple the metal surrounding that clip or
bracket you needed to remove in order to replace a 50 cent part.

HOSE CUTTER: A tool used to make hoses too short.

HAMMER: Originally employed as a weapon of war, the hammer nowadays is
used as a kind of divining rod to locate the most expensive parts
adjacent to the object we are trying to hit.

MECHANIC'S KNIFE: Used to open and slice through the contents of
cardboard cartons delivered to your front door; works particularly well
on contents such as seats, vinyl records, liquids in plastic bottles,
collector magazines, refund checks, and rubber or plastic parts.
Especially useful for slicing work clothes, but only while in use.

****ED TOOL: Any handy tool that you grab and throw across the garage
while yelling "**** IT" at the top of your lungs. It is also, most
often, the next tool that you will need, hence the expression, "Where's
that ****ED TOOL?"

[DavidF]

Sadly all true

[Bas]

Time to invent some new ones:

Block plane: A carpenter's tool for quickly tearing out wood at the edges of a board
Jack plane: Like a block plane, but allows the use of both hands to tear out tougher wood species
Oscillating spindle sander: Similar to a belt sander, except the sandpaper wears more evenly as you mess up your project
Brad nailer: A pneumatic tool that used for locating the outside edges of a board, by shooting nails on either side.
Finish nailer: Used to quickly split wood without having to use a froe.
Random orbit sander: Used to sand random parts of your woodworking project
Miter saw: Tool for evenly distributing sawdust in your shop. Also used to consistently cut 2x4s too short.
Impact driver: Strips Philips- and slotted screws while making twice the noise of a regular driver.
Drum sander: Tool for testing circuit breakers. Also used for clogging up dust filters and making boards too thin.
Jointer: Transforms a rough, uneven and twisted board into a smooth, uneven and twisted board
Planer: Planes a board to a trapezoid of a consistent thickness
Router: Combines the power of a table saw with the accuracy of a belt sander

[Glennbear]

Originally Posted by Bas

Time to invent some new ones:

Block plane: A carpenter's tool for quickly tearing out wood at the edges of a board
Jack plane: Like a block plane, but allows the use of both hands to tear out tougher wood species
Oscillating spindle sander: Similar to a belt sander, except the sandpaper wears more evenly as you mess up your project
Brad nailer: A pneumatic tool that used for locating the outside edges of a board, by shooting nails on either side.
Finish nailer: Used to quickly split wood without having to use a froe.
Random orbit sander: Used to sand random parts of your woodworking project
Miter saw: Tool for evenly distributing sawdust in your shop. Also used to consistently cut 2x4s too short.
Impact driver: Strips Philips- and slotted screws while making twice the noise of a regular driver.
Drum sander: Tool for testing circuit breakers. Also used for clogging up dust filters and making boards too thin.
Jointer: Transforms a rough, uneven and twisted board into a smooth, uneven and twisted board
Planer: Planes a board to a trapezoid of a consistent thickness
Router: Combines the power of a table saw with the accuracy of a belt sander

I posted the same list Mark has a couple months ago, It still cracks me up every time I read it. Thanks for the new additions

[rsitzejr]

TWO-TON ENGINE HOIST: A tool for testing the maximum tensile strength of
everything you forgot to disconnect.

Boy have I done that before. Brake lines, vacuum hoses, wires, especially wires. They don't hold up an engine very well.

[cpowell]

I've read this list many times and a few of them still make me spew coffee.


Chuck